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Can the porn industry fight back against required condoms?

by Patt Morrison

Derrick Burts, 24, the actor whose HIV positive test sparked a temporary shutdown of the US porn filmmaking industry called for mandatory condom use on set, in his first public comments on the scare during a press conference in Hollywood, California on December 8, 2010. Burts said he had only worked in the porn industry for seven months before being told during a routine test at the AIM clinic on October 8 that he had contracted the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS.GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

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Will adult film actors be required to wear condoms across the county? It depends what Los Angeles has to say. A petition that requires condoms for all pornography actors has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, pending approval from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on July 24.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, "This ordinance should go a long way to improve safety on the sets for adult film performers," Porn actors in the city of Los Angeles have been required to wear condoms since March, but now, voters will get decide if the same regulations should be applied to the rest of L.A. county. But how will the porn industry fight back?

"There's never been something on the ballot as sexually explicit as this,” Weinstein said, and it’s unlikely fighting against the use of condoms will be popular with voters. "If we have ads brought to you by Larry Flynt and other pornographers, we would be thrilled. It's not hard to figure out that people don't hold pornographers in high esteem."

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About Patt Morrison

Patt Morrison is a live two-hour public affairs show. The program is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, and for its presentation of national and world news as it affects Southern California.